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BASEL, Switzerland Top-ranked Roger Federer lost his hometown tournament Sunday, falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Novak Djokovic in the Swiss Indoors final.
Djokovic earned his fourth title of the season with a victory that ended Federer's run of three straight titles at the tournament where he was once a ball boy.
"It's disappointing to lose at home in the finals, no doubt," Federer said. "I thought I missed plenty of opportunities. I'm not looking for excuses. He played tough and he played well when he had to, and saved a ton of break points that were crucial."
Djokovic improved to 3-2 this year against Federer, and said the top-ranked Swiss pushed him to his limits. associated press
Andy Murray won his sixth title of the season in his first tournament back from a wrist injury, beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the Valencia (Spain) Open final.
The fourth-ranked Scot hadn't played since the U.S. Open in September. He broke twice in each set and served eight aces to improve to 2-0 against the 23rd-ranked Youzhny.
James Blake of the United States beat Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Paris Masters. Santoro, 36, who is playing his final season on the ATP tour, swapped jerseys with Blake after the match and did a lap around the court to warm applause from the crowd at Bercy indoor arena.
Italy won its second Fed Cup title in four years, completing a shutout of a U.S. team playing without Venus and Serena Williams.
Flavia Pennetta beat U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin 7-5, 6-2 to give the experienced Italians an insurmountable 3-0 lead against a young U.S. team in the best-of-5 series on an outdoor clay court in Reggio Calabria, Italy.
The Williams sisters opted not to play after meeting in the season-ending tour championships final last weekend.
SOCCER
Landon Donovan's 73rd-minute penalty gave the Los Angeles Galaxy a 1-0 home win against Chivas USA and a spot in the Major League Soccer Western Conference final against Houston. The Galaxy win means star recruit David Beckham will miss England's international friendly against Brazil next weekend to remain with his MLS club.
The Galaxy will host Houston in a single match Friday night to determine who goes to the MLS Cup final against the Eastern Conference champion.
At Houston, Brian Ching scored six minutes into overtime to put the Dynamo into the conference final for the third time in four years with a 1-0 win against Seattle.
COLLEGES
No. 15th Charlotte (11-3-4, 5-2-2) lost 2-1 at Temple (9-7-2, 4-4-1) in Atlantic 10 men's soccer regular-season finale. Evan James scored for the 49ers who will be the fifth seed in the A-10 tournament Thursday at Rhode Island.
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